


We Come In Pairs

by clv44



Series: Tales from the Wildemount Frontier [2]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Western, Black Character(s), Bows & Arrows, Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Cowboys & Cowgirls, Gen, Guns, I've been watching too many Westerns on Netflix, Kiri is a literal bird, Native American Character(s), Period-Typical Racism, Slurs, Trinket is a Wolf, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22286848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clv44/pseuds/clv44
Summary: Vax and Vex abandoned their home long ago to wander the plains. Little did they think that they would get into this much trouble.
Relationships: Nott & Caleb Widogast, Trinket & Vex'ahlia (Critical Role), Vax'ildan & Vex'ahlia (Critical Role)
Series: Tales from the Wildemount Frontier [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612876
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	We Come In Pairs

Vax looked down from his perch atop a grassy hill at the distant glow of a campfire. His pet raven, Kiri, fluttered restlessly on his shoulder.

"Fly! Fly!" Kiri called in a perfect imitation of her master's voice. Vax smiled.

"Not until my sister is ready with HER SHIT!" The last two words he threw passive aggressively over his shoulder, to where his sister sat on her horse stringing her longbow. Her pet wolf, Trinket, stood ready beside her, his tail wagging. She threw Vax a glare sharp as daggers.

"Nothing's stopping you from sending her to scope things out," she snapped. "I'd probably be done by the time she got back."

Vax shrugged. "Alrighty, Kiri. I guess Vex is just so much smarter than us. Fly!"

Vax could've sworn the bird smiled at him, even though Kiri didn't have any lips. She practically launched herself off Vax's shoulder, clipping the top of his head with her wing, and went soaring into the inky black sky.

"Don't you ever worry she'll get shot down?" Vex asked, giving a tug on her bow string and sidling up beside her brother.

"Who just shoots a raven mindin' its own business?"

"Someone hungry?" she suggested. Vax shook his head.

"Raven's ain't good eatin'. Remember the first time we tried them on the plains?"

"Oh yeah." Vex grimaced. "Trinket puked it up real quick, didn't you boy?" She bent down to give the wolf a scratch behind his ears. He wagged his tail and panted happily. Vax rolled his eyes; he never figured out how she'd convinced him to let Trinket tag along with them. Him having Kiri was one thing; the raven was useful, able to scout ahead and report back. A wolf, as far as he could see, didn't do anything except eat huge amounts of their food and draw the attentions of hunters looking for a nice, soft canine pelt.

The fluttering of wings brought Vax's attention back to the skies. Kiri's silhouette made a striking image outlined against the bright illumination of the full moon. Vax held out an arm and Kiri perched on his gloved hand.

"What we got?" he asked. It was a prompt he had taught her to respond to, back on their father's estate. Before they'd run away.

Kiri squawked out a series of numbers, each corresponding to a category Vax had trained her to memorize.

"Two," she said. "Two. Unknown. Yes." And finally a donkey's bray. Two tents, two campers, unknown presence of firearms, ample amount to steal and only a donkey for transport. Vax smiled; this might just be easier than they thought. He turned to Vex and found that she was also smirking, the blue feather in her hair popping against her black locks. Vax took a second to, not for the first time, contemplate what a strange pair they made. Vex had taken almost completely after their Native mother, donning clothes made from buffalo hide and wearing brightly colored beads around her neck and wrists. She had carved the bow herself and etched animal likenesses into the wood with her hunting knife. She didn't carry a gun; she thought of it as being too close to their father, with whom she wanted nothing to do with. She wore her hair down to the middle of her back in a single braid and had a hand-made quiver slung over her shoulder. Vax, however, was decked out like a gunslinger; black leather from head to foot, two impeccably polished pistols at his hips and a black stetson perched atop his head. He'd had his own hair cropped short and the only jewelry he wore as a shiny silver pendant in the likeness of a rattlesnake skull. His philosophy was if father was offering him the money, why not take advantage of it?

"Shall we?" he asked and Vex nodded, kicking her stallion into a trot, Trinket following close beside her. Vax kicked his own horse forward, Kiri lifting off his shoulder and flying just above his head as they descended down towards their prey.

The camp was small and simple. The fire had burned down nearly to cinders, but the moon provided enough light to see by. A stack of pots and pans sat outside one of the two small tents; they looked to have been recently used. Trinket sauntered over to the pots, sniffing at them. Vax rolled his eyes and dismounted his horse, Kiri landing softly on his shoulder. He walked over to the other tent, where a pair of cheap boots stuck out of the opening. He kicked at them experimentally and they immediately tipped over, weightless. Vax's eyes widened.

"We've been bamboozled," he muttered just as he heard the heavy click of a shotgun behind him. A voice in a heavy German accent spoke.

"I would recommend you not move," it said, barely above a whisper.

"That's our line," said Vex, drawing her bow and notching an arrow to the string. Before she could fire, though, there was a loud _CRACK_ and her bow exploded into a thousand splinters. Kiri took off in a flurry of feathers and the horses reared up on their hind legs, throwing Vex into the dirt, but providing Vax with a distraction. He whipped around to face the German only to find the barrel of the shotgun pointed almost directly in his face. The man's hands were shaking, but he wasn't nearly as distracted by the chaos as Vax thought he would've been. He was a shabby looking thing, his trench coat covered with patches, his bright red hair hidden under several layers of dirt and the socks on his bootless feet were filled with holes where his toes poked through.

"Good shot, Nott," the man said, looking behind Vax.

"Thanks Caleb," said a small, female voice. A Negro, judging by her accent. That was interesting.

"Young lady," the German said, "if you would please keep your dog at bay that would be most beneficial to your current situation."

"Or," Vex countered, and Vax could hear Trinket growling loudly, "I could just have him tear this one's throat out instead."

"Do that and your partner is dead." His voice was hard, determined. Whoever this Negro partner of his was he cared about her.

"Brother, actually." Vax injected himself into the conversation. Perhaps there was common ground to be exploited here. "She doesn't want anything to happen to me. Just as much as I'm guessin' you don't want anything to happen to your friend. We can make it so that nobody has to walk away with an essential piece missing."

"And how do you propose that?" the German, Caleb, asked. "Are you willing to part with your valuables and leave us alone without a hassle?"

"Fuck that!" Vax winced; most times he relied on his sister's dominate personality. He could do without it in cases like this, though.

"Then I'm afraid we're at an impasse," Caleb said, taking the shotgun in a more secure grip. "We are in need of the money and you seem intent on taking what little we have."

"We have cash," Vax assured him, reaching slowly into his saddle bag to grab a wad of dollars. This seemed to make the Negro girl, Nott, angry.

"So, what? This some kinda sport to you!? We do this to survive and you're getting off on this?"

"Money doesn't last forever," Vax explained. "This wad is from just a few days ago."

Caleb seemed to soften at that, though not enough that he'd lower his gun. Vax felt a bead of sweat run down his face, getting caught at the corner of his mouth. _C'mon,_ he thought. _Give me an opening, you stupid Kraut_ _._

"Can you spare half?" Caleb asked, in seeming sincerity.

"Fuck that, Caleb!" Nott shouted (What was Vex doing? Trinket could easily take her out). "Take it all! They were gonna steal from us!"

"They're vagabonds, same as us. They have every right to survive that we do. Just give us half and we'll let you go."

Vax slowly turned around to get a look at his sister. She was still sprawled out in the grass. A teenage Negro girl in plain leathers had two six shooter pistols pointed directly at his sister and Trinket. Her hands were considerably more steady than Caleb's were and the look on her face was hard and piercing as a railroad spike.

Vax felt like he had swallowed a lemon as he turned slowly back to face Caleb.

"Just half?" he clarified. "Then you'll let us go?"

Caleb nodded. "Just toss it here. At my feet."

Vax did so.

"Now," Caleb said, "Move slowly, take your horses, and your dog, and walk away. We will _not_ shoot you." He threw a sharp look over at Nott when he said this and Vax could hear the girl give a heavy sigh.

"How fuckin' gracious of you," Vex grumbled, lifting herself up and calling Trinket to her side with a few snaps. The wolf gave one last growl at Nott and slinked over to Vex's side. The twins grabbed the reins of their horses and started walking slowly, sheepishly, out of the small camp, guns trained at their backs by a teenage Negro and a shabby, underfed Kraut.

"Hey, Vax?" Vex said as soon as they were at a safe distance. Vax looked to see that his sister was blushing a deep red.

"Yeah?"

"Let's never discuss that again."

"Agreed."

"And Vax?"

"Yeah?"

"If we ever see them again, let's fuck 'em up."

"Agreed."

The heavy flap of wings caught Vax's ear and he held his arm out instinctively. Kiri landed on his gloved hand.

"And where were _you,_ exactly?"

Kiri made an angry _meowing_ noise.

"Aw, c'mon!" Vax frowned at the bird, incredulous. "You got held up by a fuckin' cat?"

"Go fuck yourself," Kiri replied. Vax had never figured out where she'd learned that one.


End file.
